Abstract Theory suggests that an earlier age at international entry results in improved growth but also decreased survival chances. Empirical studies tell a different story, providing mixed and equivocal results that challenge the tenets of extant theory. To begin to bridge the gap between theory and results, we develop theoretical explanations for curvilinear (inverted U-shaped) relationships between age at entry and both firm growth and firm survival as well as the moderating impact of resource-providing initial public offering (IPO) on the resource-intensive internationalization process. Our findings support the inverted U-shaped relationships and that IPO performance steepens the growth curve and flattens the survival curve. Taken together, our study enhances understanding of the effects of age at entry, bridges the IPO and international entrepreneurship literatures, and offers avenues for extending the micro-foundations of the development of capabilities for new foreign market entry. In doing so, we advance knowledge about the conditions under which earlier or later internationalization leads some firms to thrive while others fail.

中文翻译：

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时间就是一切？进入年龄对新公司成长和生存的曲线效应和 IPO 业绩的调节作用

摘要 理论表明，进入国际市场的年龄越早，增长速度越快，但生存机会越低。实证研究讲述了一个不同的故事，提供了混合和模棱两可的结果，挑战了现存理论的原则。为了开始弥合理论与结果之间的差距，我们对进入年龄与公司成长和公司生存之间的曲线（倒 U 形）关系以及提供资源的首次公开募股 (IPO) 的调节影响进行了理论解释) 资源密集型国际化进程。我们的研究结果支持倒 U 形关系，并且 IPO 表现使增长曲线变陡峭并使生存曲线变平。总之，我们的研究增强了对入学年龄影响的理解，将 IPO 和国际创业文献连接起来，并为扩展新的外国市场进入能力发展的微观基础提供途径。在此过程中，我们提高了有关早期或后期国际化导致一些公司蓬勃发展而其他公司失败的条件的知识。